Customer Reviews

A Peace Corps Profile

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Wow, this is tough. Every volunteer has a unique story as amazing as that may seem.

Kirk writes about his time in Nicaragua and Chile. While I enjoyed reading his memoir, I have to say it lacks detail and the structure is too linear. He tends to jump quickly to another topic without a lot of development. I wanted to know what food he ate, what the country people's lives were like among other things and that is rarely included.

I'm glad I read it and feel like I got to know a very unique and admirable individual.

A lot of Peace Corps memoirs are silly and self-indulgent. This is, sadly, the opposite - terse and serious. If I had to choose one book this probably wouldn't be it. I read Moritz Thomsen's Living Poor before I went to S. Korea as a volunteer and recommend it before this good but sparse book.

A most incredible man, this Kirk Hackenberg. To have gone through two terms in the Peace Corps seems to be unusual enough but to live to tell about it under the circumstances is quite another story. His adventures were death defying on several levels. Interesting to see how governments can actually interfere with and hinder the good intentions of those concerned with the well-being of people in their own countries. A bit of a history lesson as well!